Blog | Page 9 | CrossWalk Church

05.20.15

It's a love-hate relationship. By which I mean I love it way too much. I need to hate it more. And the "it" I'm referring to is life in this world.

There’s an old proverb that tells about a monkey who reaches into a tree trunk for some acorns that have been collected by a squirrel. But a problem develops, and what seems like treasure...

The Gift of Others: We Call It Church

05.19.15

I went whale-watching today. It's our last day of vacation here in the Canary Islands, a little archipelago of islands clustered off of the coast of North Africa, and apparently this is whale-watching paradise.

I have to admit, we did see a lot of whales! And it was intriguing to notice that they -- at least the "pilot whales"...

Confused or Confident?

05.19.15

When you read through the gospels, you begin to realize that Jesus did some things when he performed miracles that didn't always seem necessary or logical.

I get it. I think I might have been a little surprised myself at some of Jesus' actions. After all, he once made mud out...

Why Does Jesus Keep Us in Suspense?

05.18.15

Does it seem that Jesus needs to be a little more plain-spoken? That, apparently, was what some of the Jews thought! Jesus was teaching in Solomon's Colonnade, an area that was used by rabbis inside the confines of the temple.

John reports that Jesus' teaching drew a crowd. And the crowd had a question: "The Jews who were there...

A Safe Place to Be

05.17.15

If you've ever been to a coastline where you can watch big waves tumble over sharp volcanic rock, you know that's a place to be cautious about swimming. You want to make sure that you have some bigger rocks to hide behind. Otherwise, the forces behind those waves are going to be awfully harsh, if not deadly.

Life can be like that. At...

05.16.15

I'm a person who has always struggled mightily with my mouth. I tended to impulsively react to events and say things before really taking the time to think them through. One reason I reacted this way was that I arrogantly believed that I was almost always on target with my words.

Yeah...

Five Kinds of Freedom

05.15.15

There are so many things that shackle us in life. There are the expectations of others. There are our own self-expectations.

Then there are our hurts, our habits and our hang-ups. Perhaps we've recently lost a loved one, and we're deep in grief. Maybe we can't break an addiction's grip despite multiple attempts to pull away. We might ...

Leaders AND Followers

05.14.15

Judges, chapter 19, features one of the most horrific accounts in the entire Bible. It is very tough to read.

You know it's not going to end well when it starts with a man who serves God (as a Levite), and he has a concubine. And as you read on, you'll notice the language change. He can't seem to decide whether she is his kept-woman or...

A Rally Cry

05.13.15

Perhaps some of you saw the news report yesterday regarding the most recent Pew survey entitled, "...

Take the Truth for a Test Drive

05.12.15

"Seriously. I'm not making this stuff up!"

That's the forceful claim Jesus makes about what he's teaching. What provokes such a statement is that the people listening to him are utterly amazed. They can see he's not an educated man. Yet, what he says is far more educated and wise than anyone they've ever heard before.

So Jesus...

What Page Are You On?

05.11.15

It's so easy -- and dangerous -- to get consumed with the hopes and desires of the present.

Following Jesus' bread of life speech, and a realization by many in the crowd that Jesus was not merely around to serve their daily needs or meet their earthly goals, many of those who had been Jesus' disciples began to turn back and stop...

An Offer Jesus Can't Refuse

05.10.15

A crowd of people were searching for Jesus. In fact, these people were so intent on finding Jesus that they kept following him back and forth across the Sea of Galilee.

But there was a major hitch. They weren't looking for the real Jesus. Yes, they kept wandering to and fro across the lake, searching for a guy named Jesus. But sadly,...